


Brotherly Squabbles

by chissprincess



Category: The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Family, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-15
Updated: 2014-11-15
Packaged: 2018-02-25 12:41:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2622131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chissprincess/pseuds/chissprincess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elladan and Elrohir are excited to meet their new baby sister. If only they could agree on who gets to hold her first! A fluffy little drabble written for twerkingfili on Tumblr as a prize for my November 2014 Flash Fic Giveaway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brotherly Squabbles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [twerkingfili](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=twerkingfili).



They THOUGHT they had calculated everything just right. The baby wasn’t due until late in the summer, when the first leaves began to turn yellow with approaching autumn and surprisingly-chilly nights could follow hot, lazy days. When Elladan and Elrohir left Rivendell before midsummer to go collect their grandparents from Lotholorien, everyone assumed they would have more than enough time to accomplish their task and return home. The whole family would be there to spend days, maybe even weeks, awaiting the birth together, and then of course they would all be there to greet the new Elfling the moment she arrived.

Well, that was the plan anyway.

They were still at least three days out from Rivendell when the messenger caught up to them, absolutely brimming with excitement at being the one to tell Galadriel and Celeborn that they were grandparents again, and to tell Elladan and Elrohir that they were finally big brothers (“But I’ve ALWAYS been a big brother,” Elladan reminded them, “since Elrohir was born second.”) They decided to push on as quickly as they could, then, to make sure they got to meet their sister as soon as possible. Of course, the entire end of the trip was taken up with trying to figure out just how they had screwed up their planned schedule so badly. The twins had left Rivendell early and travelled fast, they hadn’t dawdled in Lothlorien (even going so far as to leave their original horses there so they could take fresh ones who could handle being pushed a bit), and neither Galadriel nor Celeborn were delicate little flowers in need of coddling. Galadriel had walked across Helcaraxë, after all. They could travel far and hard when they wanted to…and now, for obvious reasons, they wanted to. 

The party arrived in Rivendell around noon three days after meeting the messenger, who had joined them for the return journey and who was now more than happy to ride ahead and announce their arrival. To absolutely no-one’s surprise, Elrond didn’t come to greet them himself, instead leaving the task to Lindir and a small collection of aides. The horses were immediately taken to the stables, Galadriel and Celeborn were whisked away to see their daughter and grand-daughter…and Elladan and Elrohir were left to their own devices for the time being. They chose to return to their rooms to wash up, change their clothes, and rest.

Elrohir brought his hairbrush and belt to Elladan’s room so they could chat while they finished refreshing themselves.

“Who do you supposed she looks more like, Ada or Nana?” Elrohir asked.

Elladan shrugged. “At this age? Neither. Come, brother, you’ve seen newborns before. You know what they look like.” Rather wrinkly and red and not much like the grown-ups at all, in his opinion.

“Yes,” the younger twin replied, “but this is different. She’s our sister. That makes it special.”

“Of course you’re right,” Elladan agreed. He grinned and turned away from his own mirror to help Elrohir with his braids. “It’s not fair. We should be up there with her already.”

“Well…she’s our sister, but she is their granddaughter, and their daughter is the mother” Elrohir said. “I suppose they can claim the right to meet her first because of seniority or something.”

Elladan again had to admit that his brother had a point. When had Elrohir grown so wise? He rather wished he could catch up. 

“Of course, I should hold her first,” Elrohir continued. “I’m the one who said we should have left here earlier and if you had only listened, we would have been here when she was born.”

Elladan snorted. “But I’m the oldest. If we claim our grandparents had seniority because THEY’RE the oldest of us all then shouldn’t it go that way for me too? Besides, it was my idea to go get them to begin with!”

“Yes, but you could have done it in a way that wouldn’t have us here so late,” Elrohir said. “Like…sending a message with a bird, or a messenger, or leaving earlier…like I suggested!”

Elladan laughed and reached up to ruffle his twin’s hair, but Elrohir was too fast and managed to dodge out of the way. Before their friendly argument could start again, Lindir appeared to summon them. Apparently it was finally their chance to meet their sister…if only they could come to some agreement of who would get to hold her first.

The bickered back and forth the whole way up the stairs, only stopping when their grandparents appeared and paused to gush at them about how adorable the baby was. But the two older Elves wouldn’t say a word beyond that, which of course only fueled the twins’ curiosity and bickering. They didn’t stop again until they reached their parents’ chambers and a sharp look from Elrond made them fall silent.

They crept into the room and over to their mother’s bed, each going to a separate side. Celebrian beamed up at her sons and gently bounced the little bundle in her arms. “Look darling, look who came to see you,” she whispered to the baby. “It’s your brothers!”

For her part, the tiny baby Elfling just blinked up at the two Elves hovering over her. She didn’t seem terribly impressed, and yawned when Elrohir smiled and waved at her. Elladan snorted and said, “There, see. She likes me better so I should hold her first.”

“Well that’s not a reason. If she doesn’t like me as much then I should hold her first so she can get to know me better!” Elrohir said.

“What kind of logic is that?” Elladan countered.

Celebrian turned to Elrond and asked, “Have they been doing this all day?”

“They were doing it on their way here,” her husband said. “It seems they have started again. And all over who gets to hold the baby first.”

“I can put a stop to that,” Celebrian said. She waved a hand to get her sons’ attention, and they both stopped talking long enough to listen to their mother. “Whoever guesses what we named the baby can hold her first.”

“Ithilwen!” Elrohir guessed. He had been pushing for that name ever since their mother revealed that she thought the baby was a girl.

“Elwen?” was Elladan’s first guess. If only he had known how close he was.

“Mm…Celebreneth?”

“Ooh no, must be Gilrin!”

The guessing went on for quite some time. Celebrian just kept shaking her head (at this rate she was going to be dizzy), saying things like “No,” and “Not that one,” and “How did you even come up with that?” over and over. 

Finally, Elladan opened his mouth to make another guess, but before he could manage it, the door opened again and Glorfindel appeared.

“And how is little Arwen?” he asked, beaming at the proud parents. “Oh, and Elladan and Elrohir are back! Have you gotten to meet your sister yet? I returned from my own journey just yesterday but hadn’t gotten the chance before now!”

“Glorfindel…did someone tell you her name?” Celebrian asked.

He shook his head. “No, lucky guess…why?”

Celebrian just laughed and held the tiny Elfing out to him. “Oh, no particular reason.”

The twins exchanged a startled look, and Elladan starting laughing. “Maybe we need a new strategy, brother,” he said. “Is there any way to hold her TOGETHER?”


End file.
